Collingwood backs new father Pietersen

KEVIN Pietersen will have just 20 hours to rest and re-acclimatise in the Caribbean before he must switch back on for England in an ICC World Twenty20 semi-final.

But captain Paul Collingwood has no qualms about compromised preparation or jet-lag issues, and is confident England's No 3 will be so invigorated at becoming a father for the first time that he will be able to perform against Sri Lanka today.

Pietersen's wife Jessica gave birth to a boy on Monday morning, two days after he flew from Barbados to London to be present. He had just produced the second of two successive man-of-the-match performances to help England beat his native South Africa at Kensington Oval – but was then on the other side of the Atlantic when Collingwood's team scraped a three-wicket win over New Zealand to book their place in the semi-final at Beausejour Stadium.

Asked whether it is asking a lot of Pietersen to immediately reproduce his best form within a day of switching continents, Collingwood said: "No, I don't think so at all."

He says the euphoria of fatherhood will ensure Pietersen is ready, and his return can only benefit his team-mates too.

"In this form of the game especially, your frame of mind is the crucial thing," said the Durham star. "He's going to be in a great frame of mind. He's just had a baby boy; he'll be a happy man; he's had a little bit of a break, and it might do him the world of good just to come straight back into it.

"There's nothing technical he has to change. It's just his mindset, and I'm sure his mind is 100 per cent right. He'll be a happy man, and raring to go.

"He put two man-of-the-match performances in before he left. The way he's playing at the moment, getting a player back like that is a great confidence boost for all of us."

Collingwood is equally convinced of his team's collective well-being. There are no signs of big-match nerves in the camp, so much so that the captain sees no point in stirring the players up with any extra motivational speeches.

"I don't need it. The guys are ready; they are excited," he said. "If there was a feeling around the camp that the guys are nervous or anything like that then maybe something would have to be said. But the guys are so confident and focused on the jobs they've got to do, the roles they've got to play. We'll have a team meeting tonight, but I'm not going to come out with any rip-roaring speech."